BUSD approves land exchange of Citro property with Fallbrook districts

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Part of the land where the planned Citro development is located, is in the K-12 Bonsall Unified School District, while part of the land is within the boundaries of the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District and the Fallbrook Union High School District. The three districts are working together to modify the boundaries, which would place various neighborhoods in the same district, and the Feb. 15 BUSD board meeting approved the territory exchange.

The board's 5-0 vote approved a resolution consenting to a territory transfer, and authorized BUSD superintendent Joseph Clevenger to submit a petition for a reorganization to the County Office of Education. A first reading, Jan. 18, was approved on a 4-0 vote, with Pascal Lapoirie absent.

"All three districts have concluded that to change the boundary line would be beneficial for both the districts and the community," Clevenger said.

Tri Pointe Homes is the parent company of Pardee Homes, and Citro was the Meadowood project in Jan. 2012, when the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the 384-acre Meadowood development.

The residential component is now expected to consist of 473 single-family, and 352 multi-family homes. The map also includes 13 acres for an elementary school which will be built by the Bonsall Unified School District. The school district and Tri Pointe Homes are in negotiations for the acquisition of that land, and the specific location is still a closed session matter for the school board.

The three school districts expect Citro's final phase units to be built and occupied by December 2030. The current district boundaries create streets, lots, housing types, and cul-de-sacs where students and families living next door to or across the street from each other would be in different school districts.

In April 2022, the three districts commenced a study to address the boundaries, and that study also assessed the feasibility of changing the district boundaries to allow for a more logical divide of the community. The study also considered the fiscal impact of the new boundaries so that the exchange of parcels would be revenue-neutral for each district.

The three districts chose an option in which all public school students living in the Zutano neighborhoods will attend Fallbrook Union Elementary School District or Fallbrook Union High School District schools. All students living in the Meyer neighborhoods will attend a Bonsall district school. The boundary lines will also be adjusted so that students living on the same street, within the Citro development, will be in the same district.

"It reflects well on all three of our school districts that they have been able to partner on something like this," Clevenger said.

The San Diego County Office of Education will conduct outreach prior to the public hearing which would approve the territory transfer. Even with the boundary changes, some students who ideally should be at the same school would be in different schools.

"All three districts have agreed to continue to work together on interdistrict transfers," Clevenger said.